


like diamonds in a coal mine, in the moonlight when you appear

by lucifergiggles



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Mutual Pining, Other, but characters are still fantasy races bc i say so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 11:36:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16680868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucifergiggles/pseuds/lucifergiggles
Summary: That college!au that no one asked for





	like diamonds in a coal mine, in the moonlight when you appear

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in a haze, instead of preparing for my legal exam tomorrow so I apologise for any mistakes/typos there are in advance. It's my first time writing fic in a looooong while, and my first for this fandom (even though I've been here a while). I'm trash, so I don't have a set schedule for updates.
> 
> Comments/kudos are always appreciated!
> 
> Hope you enjoy <3

Strongjaw’s was a small gym in the middle of Zadash proper.

 

The faded, exhaust-stained exterior was only decorated by a single, simply decorated sign that, if one wasn’t paying attention, was easily missed. If it weren’t within walking distance of the local University - where gossip and word of mouth spread faster than STI’s - it would surely have gone out of business years ago. But, with the steady stream of late-night, exam-related stress exercisers, beefy jocks with athletic scholarships, and horny young adults, the gym maintained its existence - even if it did look a little like a meth house on the outside.

 

But they had the best range of exercise equipment to price-per-month ratio, and Beau wasn’t about to pass up on that.

 

A regular of Strongjaw’s, Beau usually ended up going about 4 - 5 times a week. Mainly to counteract what her parents called “anger management issues”, especially around exam week. She liked to think it was just a… _pizazz_ for life, but what’d she know anyway? There was something truly satisfying about punching the living shit out of a giant bag of sand - and if she just so happened to imagine her thesis advisor's face while doing so, then that was simply a coincidence.

 

Over the years that she had frequented the gym, she had gotten to know (or at least recognize) most of the regulars’ faces - even their names. Mainly because she would secretly people watch while she took a hydration break.

 

There was Bryce, a lithe, half-elven local member of the police force (not-so-affectionately called the Crownsguard) who had just recently transferred in from one of the suburban districts. It might have been the fact that they came from a small area that made them one of the only decent police members in the city, and definitely the only one that Beau ever respected. They’d even gotten to the polite, very-vaguely acquaintance-like greeting head nod stage, which, even Beau admitted was character growth for her.

 

Then there were the other gym members like the halfling woman - who looked almost as ready to hit things as Beau was; a huge… goliath? Half-goliath? Whatever he was, he was shredded, never wore a shirt and walked around like he owned the place. Then there was Keg, a dwarf who Beau once hooked up with in the gym showers, and who had been awkwardly been avoiding her since.

 

So it was a bit of a surprise when one day while walking through the gym to get to the punching bag, she noticed it was already occupied by a stranger. From the back, all she could see was long, black hair that faded to white, pulled into a braid, black gym clothes and _holy shit look at those arm muscles_. Being the hopeless gay that she was, Beau stood there for a second, entranced, before she realised how weird (and kinda pathetic, her brain helpfully supplied) that looked and started messing around with the dumbells nearby, trying to appear like she wasn’t just checking out some stranger.

 

Of course, that was when her traitorous hands decided to drop the dumbbell she was holding, and all 10 pounds of metal dropped straight onto her toe. Just to top things off, her loud string of obscenities that she yelled out in pain had caught the attention of goth-girl (which her brain had designated as the strangers' name until she knew her real one).

 

When the woman turned around, the first thing Beau noticed through her pain-induced haze was the stark contrast between goth-girl’s two eyes - one a greenish-blue, and the other a stark, unusual violet. The second thing she noticed was the confused (and was that a little bit of concern?) look on the woman’s face.

 

“Uh,” the woman paused awkwardly “Is everything okay?” Her voice was low and a little rough, like maybe she didn’t use it all that much, and was speckled with an accent that reminded Beau of her friend, Caleb, a little - Zemnian.

 

Beau mentally cursed herself for making a bad first impression on goth-girl, and immediately straightened up, pretending that her toe didn’t currently feel like the gods themselves had decided to smite it. “Yeah.” _Lie._ “Totally fine.” _Also a lie._ “Just surprised me more than anything.”

 

There was another awkward pause before goth-girl nodded and simply replied with an “Okay.”, before she started to turn around back to the punching bag. Suddenly feeling the urge to continue her conversation with the hot goth, Beau jumped forward (probably a little bit too eagerly, if she was honest with herself) and caught her arm.

 

“Hey, uh, not to be ‘that guy’, but you mind if we swap out on the bag between reps? I got this big exam I need to not study for, so I have to head home sooner than I’d like.” Okay, so she wasn’t _technically_ lying - she did have an exam. It wasn’t until next month, but goth-girl didn’t know that.

 

The other woman looked at Beau silently for a second, before nodding her head again and taking a step back from the punching bag. Beau strode up to the bag, totally, 100% not limping, and positioned herself. She started her reps, and after 30 seconds of silence, punctuated solely by puffs of air from her as she slammed her fists into the bag, and the loud _thwack_ of connection, Beau couldn’t contain herself any longer.

 

“So, you got a name?” She asked between one set of punches, trying to act natural. When she didn’t hear a response, Beau turned around only to find thin air. Her eyes darted over the whole gym, and yet she could not see goth-girl anywhere. She had disappeared.

 

“ _Ah, fuck._ ” Beau muttered, and with nothing now to prove (and possibly a broken toe) called it a day and headed over to the front desk to see if they had ice; images of the mysterious woman floating through her mind.


End file.
